Australian Image Economy Employment Immigration IELTS

Australia’s image takes a battering. INDIANS expect Australia to be
about as welcoming as a river full or piranhas. And the blow to
Australia’s reputation following violent attacks on Indian students
last year is having repercussions around the world. When asked how
welcoming Australia is as a country, Indians rank it 46th out of 50
countries. That compares with 40th position last year, having fallen
dramatically from fifth in 2008.

AUSTRALIA is expected to be the last surviving AAA-rated country by
2030. Other developed countries will have fallen off the perch
because of their ageing populations, according to Standard & Poor’s.
In a report, Global Ageing 2010, released yesterday, the global rating
agency said an ageing population was one of the most significant
factors in determining the sovereign rating of a country.

News of a positive Aussie job market continues to reach UK graduates.
Volunteer and adventure travel company i-to-i is helping to spread
word of a flourishing jobs market in Australia through a news story
published on its website last week. The story explains how YHA are
urging graduates who are struggling to find work in the UK to visit
Australia on a working holiday visa. “Australia will be one of a
handful of countries forecast to have more people in work by the end
of next year than before the financial crisis struck,” the article
reads.

Ruling opens door for retesting of language skills. A HIGH Court
victory by Brazilian student Marcos Berenguel is increasing the
already considerable pressure on Australia’s skilled migration
policy. It allows graduates to overturn the refusal of skilled
migration visas on the basis that the Department of Immigration and
Citizenship failed to take into account up-to-date English test
results. “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there could be
thousands [of former foreign students] to take advantage of it,”
Sydney immigration lawyer Peter Bollard said.